The dictionary of demons, p.53
The Dictionary of Demons, page 53
Rimog: A demon named in the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, Rimog is said to serve the demon Magoth. In the fifteenth-century French manuscript sourced by Mathers, Rimog also serves the demon Kore. See also KORE, MAGOTH, MATHERS.
Risbel: A so-called squire spirit named in the Munich Handbook. Risbel has powers of illusion and is called upon to help conjure a castle from thin air. He must be called in a secluded spot on the tenth night of the moon. An offering of milk and honey is said to help gain his service. His name is also rendered Ristel. See also MUNICH HANDBOOK.
Rodabell: Also called Radabelbes. He is a messenger of the north, serving in the court of the infernal king Egin. He appears in the Book of Oberon, a grimoire from Elizabethan England. His name is also spelled Rodobel and Rodybel at various points in the manuscript. See also ALPHASIS, BOOK OF OBERON, EGIN, EMLON, FEMELL.
Roêlêd: The fifteenth of thirty-six demons associated with the decans of the zodiac, Roêlêd is said to cause ailments of the stomach. He may also be known by the name Iax. This name appears as part of an incantation to drive Roêlêd away. According to the Testament of Solomon, Roêlêd is put to flight, not with a name of God or an angel, but with the name of King Solomon himself. In a later, more accurate translation of this same work, his name instead is Soubelti. He causes shivering and numbness and the angel Rizoel holds the power to control him. See also SOLOMON.
Rofanes: One of several demons named in the Munich Handbook called before a medium in order to reveal the details of a theft. Rofanes and his brethren can cause human fingernails, made shiny through the proper application of oil, to serve as scrying mirrors. A young virgin boy is typically the medium used in the spell. See also MUNICH HANDBOOK.
Roggiol: A servitor of the arch-fiends Astaroth and Asmodeus. According to the Mathers edition of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, his name may mean “to drag down by the feet.” In the edition of the Abramelin material published by Peter Hammer in 1725, the name of this demon is given instead as Kogiel. See also ASTAROTH, ASMODEUS, MATHERS.
Roler: One of several demons mentioned in the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, Roler is said to serve the infernal ruler Magoth. Only the Mathers translation contains this spelling of the name. In all other versions of the Abramelin material, this demon’s name is recorded as Rotor. Either way, it is tempting to connect this name in some fashion with wheels or a spinning motion. See also MAGOTH, MATHERS.
Romages: A demon ruled by Oriens, Paimon, Ariton, and Amaimon. In the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, these four demons hold sway over the cardinal directions. As a servant of these great infernal rulers, Romages can be called up and commanded in their names. See also AMAIMON, ARITON, MATHERS, ORIENS, PAIMON.
Romerac: This name may mean “violent thunder” from a Hebrew root identified by occultist
S. L. MacGregor Mathers. Romerac is named in the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage as one of the servitors of the infernal king Amaimon. See also AMAIMON, MATHERS.
Romiel: A demon of the daylight hours reputed to possess a tractable nature, Romiel is part of the hierarchy of the north, as outlined in the Ars Theurgia. He serves the demon-king Symiel, and is one of only ten chief dukes who work for Symiel during the hours of the day. Romiel has a total of eighty attending spirits that carry out his wishes. See also ARS THEURGIA, SYMIEL.
Romulon: A demon named in the Book of Oberon. According to that grimoire, Romulon is an infernal spirit who can be called upon to find stolen treasure. When he manifests, it is in the guise of a soldier armed with a sword and lance. He is said to be under the power of all other spirits, which places this poor fellow at the absolute bottom rung of a very extensive hierarchy. If anyone ever feels threatened by this demon, they can control him by wielding a cross made of palms blessed on Palm Sunday. See also BOOK OF OBERON.
The seal of the Goetic demon Ronove as depicted in the Goetia of Dr. Rudd. It varies slightly from other editions of the Goetia. Art by M. Belanger.
Romyel: A servant of the wandering prince Macariel, Romyel may manifest at any time during the day or night. Although he has the power to appear in whatever form he chooses, he is most fond of appearing as a many-headed dragon with virgins’ heads. In this he shares a preference with his infernal prince Macariel. Romyel oversees a total of four hundred ministering spirits. His name and the seal appear in the Ars Theurgia. See also ARS THEURGIA, MACARIEL.
Ronove: One of the traditional seventy-two Goetic demons, Ronove is described as both a marquis and an earl. According to Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft, he has command over nineteen legions of lesser spirits, and when he manifests he takes the form of a monster. Exactly what kind of monster is not specified within the text. He reputedly has the power to provide knowledge of foreign languages as well as a gifted understanding of rhetoric. He also procures faithful servants and the favor of friend and foe alike. Wierus’s Pseudomonarchia Daemonum spells his name Roneve. According to the Goetia of Dr. Rudd, he is constrained by the angel Jerathel. See also GOETIA, RUDD, SCOT, WIERUS.
Roriel: One of twelve infernal dukes in the court of the demon-king Maseriel, Roriel is connected with the hierarchy of the south and he serves his infernal master during the hours of the day. According to the Henson translation of the Ars Theurgia, he has command over thirty lesser spirits of his own. See also ARS THEURGIA, MASERIEL.
Rosaran: A servant of the demon Ariton, Rosaran is named in the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. His name may be derived from a Hebrew root meaning “evil” or “wicked.” See also ARITON, MATHERS.
Royne: A demon of lust who is said to procure sexual indulgence, particularly between a man and his wife. When summoned, he assumes the form of a soldier riding a black horse. His face is like that of a lion, and he carries a serpent in his arms. According to the Book of Oberon, he possesses the rank of earl and oversees twenty-six legions of lesser spirits. In addition to his power for procuring sex, Royne is said to be a builder. He can erect great towers and bulwarks of war as well as knock them down. He further consecrates books, reveals hidden treasure, and exposes secrets. See also BOOK OF OBERON.
Ruach: A name derived directly from the Hebrew word ruach, which means “breath” or “wind,” with further connotations of “spirit.” Ruach Ha-Kodesh is a Hebrew name for God typically translated in the Bible as the Holy Spirit. Due to the imperfect syncretization of Jewish mysticism in the medieval grimoiric tradition, several holy words were corrupted into demon names, including Berith. Ruach was no exception. In the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, the demon Ruach is mentioned as part of the hierarchy serving beneath the infernal princes of the cardinal directions: Oriens, Amaimon, Ariton, and Paimon. His name is to be scribed upon paper on the second day of the Abramelin operation, along with the names of approximately three hundred and twenty other demons. On the third day of the working, which ultimately culminates in the magician’s communion with his Holy Guardian Angel, Ruach and the others are supposed to appear in order to swear their service to the magician. See also AMAIMON, ARITON, BERITH, ORIENS, PAIMON.
Ruall: According to the Book of Incantations, this demon belonged to the angelic Order of Potentates before his fall. He speaks Egyptian and appears as a muddy dromedary, although he may be compelled to take human form. His office is to procure the love of women. He tells things past, present, and to come and also causes enemies to become friends. Thirty-seven legions follow in his retinue. He appears in the Book of Oberon under the variant spelling Ryall. He also appears here as a dromedary, but rather than speaking Egyptian, he is said simply to sound as if he is sad. He appears in a list of twelve other demons dedicated to serving Paimon, king of the west. All of his powers in this text are identical to those listed in the Book of Incantations. Compare to the Goetic demon Vuall. See also BOOK OF INCANTATIONS, BOOK OF OBERON, VUALL.
Ruax: A demon who afflicts humans by damaging their intelligence. He is said to have the power to make people slow-witted and confused. He fears the archangel Michael more than any other denizen of Heaven, and he can be put to flight with the name of that powerful being. Ruax appears in the Testament of Solomon, where he is named as one of a number of demons of disease. His name may be a variation of the word Rhyx, meaning “king.” See also SOLOMON.
Rubeus Pugnator: A demon connected with the planet Mars. His name is Latin for the “Red Fighter.” In the Liber de Angelis, he is named as the king of the demons connected with the sphere of Mars. He is summoned as part of the spell for creating the magickal Ring of Mars, a potent talisman that grants terrible power. The ring can be used to bring destruction down upon any chosen victim. See also LIBER DE ANGELIS.
Rudd, Dr. Thomas: The author of several manuscripts on magick and esoteric subjects kept in the Harley collection at the British Museum in London. These manuscripts date to the early 1700s, but they were copied from texts that were much older. Author Adam McLean, founder of Levity
.com, appropriately calls these “The Treatises of Dr. Rudd” in his introduction to Rudd’s own Treatise on Angel Magic. Rudd was a curious fellow with an obvious interest in angels, demons, and ceremonial magick—and a near-obsession on knowing how to tell good spirits from bad. Based on one of his writings, it is clear that he was also a scholar of Hebrew, sympathetic to Jews at a time when such sympathies were hardly in fashion. He was also an avid fan of Dr. John Dee. There is such a huge influence of Dee’s system of Enochian magick on portions of Rudd’s work that Peter Smart, the individual responsible for copying the Harley manuscripts, believed he was copying work that stemmed directly from Dee.
The demonic seals in the Goetia of Dr. Rudd are often simpler than those found in other versions of the Goetia. Compare Rudd’s version of the seal of Forcalor on the left to that found in Henson’s translation. Art by M. Belanger.
Aside from his manuscripts, little is known about Dr. Rudd. Scholar Frances Yates identifies Dr. Rudd with one Thomas Rudd, an individual responsible for publishing an edition of John Dee’s Mathematical Preface to Euclid in 1651. If she is correct, we seem to know his first name as well as the general time period during which he lived his life. Both Yates and McLean imply that there is some question as to when precisely Dr. Rudd lived, but in their book, The Goetia of Dr. Rudd, authors Steven Skinner and David Rankine give his dates definitely as 1583 to 1656. See also TREATISE ON ANGEL MAGIC.
Rukum: The name of this demon may come from a Hebrew term meaning “diversified.” Rukum appears in the Mathers translation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. According to this work, he is one of several demons ruled by the infernal prince Paimon. In another version of the Abramelin material, kept at the Wolfenbüttel library in Germany, the name of this demon is given as Marku. See also MATHERS, PAIMON.
Ryon: A demon in the court of Fornnouc, the infernal king of the element of air. With a quick and agile mind, Ryon can serve as an inspiring tutor. In addition, he has the power to cure infirmities and weaknesses. In Driscoll’s edition of the Sworn Book of Honourius, this demon is described as possessing a lively nature, although he is also somewhat capricious. He can be made to appear by burning the appropriate perfumes. In the Peterson translation of the Sworn Book, Ryon is connected with the sphere of Jupiter. He is subordinate to the demon-king Formione, who rules over the spirits of Jupiter. This version of Ryon grants joy, gladness, and love to mortals. He can also bestow favors. When he manifests, his form is the color of the heavens. He can be commanded in the names of the angels Satquiel, Raphael, Pahamcocihel, and Asassaiel, who rule the sphere of Jupiter. He bears some connection with the east, possibly the eastern winds. See also FORMIONE, FORNNOUC, SWORN BOOK.
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Saba: King of the planetary sphere of Mercury, Saba is aided by three infernal ministers: Hanyey, Yron, and Alvedio. When he is near, Saba causes people to shiver with cold. He can appear in many forms, including a king riding a bear, a woman with a distaff, an attractive young man, or a magpie. As he has many forms, he also has many offices. He can help to win court cases or battles. He elevates the poor and casts down the rich and powerful. He teaches all spells and can restore lost knowledge. He can also open locks and release the bindings of spirits. He is named, along with his ministers, in the Elizabethan grimoire known as the Book of Oberon. See also ALVEDIO, BOOK OF OBERON, HANYEY, SABA, YRON.
Sabas: A servant of the demon Gediel, Sabas holds the rank of duke and governs twenty lesser spirits of his own. According to the Ars Theurgia, he is tied to the hours of the day, and, through his association with Gediel, he is also tied to the direction of the south. The name of this demon may be connected to an ancient Egyptian word meaning “star.” It is also a variation on Sheba, a kingdom mentioned in the Bible. The historian Josephus described a walled Ethiopian city named Saba that may have been the biblical Sheba. See also ARS THEURGIA, GEDIEL.
Sabnock: One of the seventy-two demons named in the Goetia. In Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft, Sabnock is said to appear in the form of an armed soldier with the head of a lion. He rides a pale horse, as do many of the demons associated with the Goetia. Wierus’s Pseudomonarchia Daemonum spells his name Sabnac. In the Welsh Book of Incantations, his name is given as Sabnack. As his appearance suggests, he is a martial demon. He has the power to build castles, cities, and high towers full of weapons. He can inflict putrid wounds full of maggots that last for a span of thirty days. In addition, he is said to be able to change people’s forms and give familiar spirits. Holding the rank of marquis, he commands a total of fifty legions. Alternate forms of his name include Salmac, Sabnacke, and Sabnach. According to the Goetia of Dr. Rudd, he is ruled over by the angel Vevaliah. See also BOOK OF INCANTATIONS, GOETIA, RUDD, SCOT, WIERUS.
Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the Devil is described as a black man, and the racist implications of this cannot easily be avoided, as with the demons depicted in this early ninteenth-century engraving by J. Brown. Image courtesy of the Wellcome Collection.
Sachiel: In ceremonial magick, Sachiel is often identified as the angel of the planet Jupiter. He appears in this capacity in both the Secret Grimoire of Turiel and the Grimoire of Armadel. In Qabbalistic lore, Sachiel is identified as an archangel of the Cherubim. He is the angel of Thursday, and his name is generally taken to mean “the covering of God.” As an archangel, he is rarely counted among the fallen. Despite this, however, he makes an appearance in the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage as one of a number of demons who serve beneath the infernal princes Oriens, Paimon, Ariton, and Amaimon, who guard the cardinal directions. See also AMAIMON, ARITON, MATHERS, ORIENS, PAIMON.
Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage: Sometimes also known simply as the Book of Abramelin, this work is powerfully steeped in Jewish esotericism. Aimed at achieving conversation with a heavenly being known as the Holy Guardian Angel, this classic text of ceremonial magick provides the names of literally hundreds of demons who are required to swear their subservience to the operator during the Holy Guardian Angel rite. Attributed to a fourteenth-century Jewish scholar known as Abraham von Worms, the Abramelin material was translated into English by occultist Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers in 1898. Mathers was working from a fifteenth-century French manuscript, which, at the time, was the only version of the Abramelin material available to him. Over the years, Mathers has received some criticism for his translation, but recently Abramelin scholar Georg Dehn has discovered that it was the manuscript, and not Mathers’s translation, that was flawed. Dehn, in an exhaustive search for the real Abraham von Worms, has brought several other versions of the Abramelin material to light. These include a manuscript from 1608 written in cipher and kept at the Wolfenbüttel library, a manuscript dating to 1720 and kept at the Dresden library, and a version of the Abramelin material published in 1725 by Peter Hammer in Cologne. In addition to these discoveries, Dehn claims to have traced Abraham von Worms—long thought to be a name crafted to legitimize the Abramelin story—to the very real Jewish scholar Rabbi Jacob ben Moses ha Levi Moellin, known in the fourteenth century as the MaHaRIL. Dehn’s 2006 publication The Book of Abramelin has proven indispensable for its comparison of the surviving manuscripts, especially where the long lists of demon names are concerned. See also MATHERS.
Sadar: A demon whose name and seal appear in the Ars Theurgia, Sadar serves beneath the demon-king Raysiel in the court of the north. He is described as a demon of the day, and he will only appear during daylight hours. He holds the rank of duke and has fifty ministering spirits beneath him. See also ARS THEURGIA, RAYSIEL.
Saddiel: In the hierarchy of Usiel, Saddiel holds the rank of duke. He is a night-demon tied to the region of the west, and he has forty lesser spirits to serve him. According to the Ars Theurgia, he excels at finding hidden things and secreting away treasure, often using enchantments to hide these precious objects. See also ARS THEURGIA, USIEL.
Sadiel: A demon from the Henson translation of the Ars Theurgia, Sadiel is identified as a member of the hierarchy of the demon Gediel. Gediel is named as the second spirit in the hierarchy of the south, and thus Sadiel is also connected with the direction of the south. He is a duke said to serve his infernal master during the hours of the night. Twenty lesser spirits obey his command. See also ARS THEURGIA, GEDIEL.
Saefam: Serving the infernal prince Usiel, Saefam is a duke who commands forty lesser spirits of his own. According to the Ars Theurgia, he is tied to the hours of the day and will only manifest during that time. He has the power to hide precious items away, protecting them from discovery and theft. He can also reveal treasures hidden through magickal means. Several of the demons in the Ars Theurgia seem to be paired together, with names that closely match. Compare Saefam to Saefer, a demon listed in the same hierarchy. See also ARS THEURGIA, USIEL.
